The expansion of cities in areas of active and legacy mining impose a sustainability challenge, which is greater when a city competes with agriculture and industry in an arid environment, as it is the case of Copiapó, in northern Chile. Silver and copper mining flourished around the city in the early 19th century, when the population was of ~10,000 inhabitants, and pollution control was not a priority. Copper mining and its related industry still thrives today, while agriculture has expanded vigorously despite the aridity of the area (28 mm/year of rain). As the urban expansion has been largely unplanned, many tailings coming from legacy mining operations are scattered in the urban and periurban area. At the same time, atmospheric pollution from copper refining has prompted public concern, for a current population of ~150.000 inhabitants. This work presents preliminary results of a geochemical screening of street dust, roof dust, tailings, and soils in Copiapó. Soil samples were taken from 42 sites: public squares and parks, near tailings, in agricultural and in periurban areas; 72 dust samples were obtained from streets throughout the city, and 2 rooftops dust samples were obtained from urban settings. Samples were dried and sieved (